Centre orders CBI inquiry into drugs at Delhi govt hospitals

The federal agency is expected to seek all the documents related to the supply of medicines from the Delhi government

The Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) has ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged supply of substandard medicines to Delhi government hospitals, people familiar with the development said on Friday, adding the inquiry will also ascertain if such drugs were also distributed through Mohalla clinics — the Aam Aadmi Party’s flagship health care scheme in the Capital.

Delhi health minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the drugs under the scanner were neither “fake” nor “spurious” but rather were categorised as “not of standard quality” (NSQ). (HT Photo)

The federal agency is expected to seek all the documents related to the supply of medicines from the Delhi government.

The development comes around a month after lieutenant governor VK Saxena recommended a CBI probe into the matter. The drugs, according to the recommendation by the LG office, failed quality standard tests and had the potential of endangering lives.

These drugs were procured by the Central Procurement Agency (CPA), under the Delhi government’s health department and supplied to various government hospitals.

Delhi’s health minister, Saurabh Bharadwaj, welcomed the inquiry. He pointed out that the drugs under the scanner were neither “fake” nor “spurious” but rather were categorised as “not of standard quality” (NSQ). He also noted that he has been flagging the irregularities since September last year.

The samples under the scanner were lifted by the drug controller on July 25 from the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences, Lok Nayak, and Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospitals, which cater to millions of patients, after allegations that several frequently used medicines procured from government hospitals were ineffective on patients.

The samples were sent to approved government and private labs for testing.

The Directorate of Vigilance (DoV), based on the reports, found that over 10% of the samples were NSQ. “It also needs to be investigated whether the same drugs which have been procured by CPA are also being distributed to the patients through the ‘Mohalla Clinics’ or not,” the directorate stated, suggesting a probe by a central agency.

Responding to MHA ordering a CBI probe into the matter, Bharadwaj said that the drugs in question failed standards but were not fake. “Please note that I’m using the phrase ‘NSQ’. It does not mean that the drug is fake. If I give you medicine for stomach ache, your stomach ache will be cured. If that does not happen, then it is fake. When a particular company can manufacture a medicine but a copy of it is being made by some local company, then it’s called spurious,” he said.

“...The phrase ‘not of standard quality’ verifies the claim that the drugs are not counterfeit. Calling any medicine fake depends on whether the company producing it is creating medication under a fraudulent name or if the medicine isn’t working for the specified illness...,” he added.

Separately, Delhi minister Atishi accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of “tarnishing” the AAP health care system with “false cases and allegations”.

Bharadwaj had in December said that medicines for Delhi government hospitals are procured under directions from the directorate general of health services headed by health secretary SB Deepak Kumar, and called for the bureaucrat’s immediate suspension.

“The health secretary does not obey written or verbal orders. The officers (of the Delhi government) are not accountable to the ministers and the elected government,” he said at the time.